While Star Trek: Starfleet Academy had a divisive reaction among fans, there is the feeling that episode 5, “Series Acclimation Mil,” was the best episode of the first season. And Armin Shimerman, who played Quark on Deep Space Nine, thought the DS9 love letter "was lovely." Shimerman also said via ScreenRant:
“I was incredibly taken with it. Lovely to see Cirroc [Lofton] as his character [Jake Sisko]. Not as a young man anymore. He’s still a young man, but not as young… It was very flattering. And, of course, Tawny [Newsome] was playing a character called [Illa] Dax, and I understand that she’s a big fan of Terry Farrell’s character Dax."
Shimerman continued by saying:
"So, it was very flattering. It was lovely. I have nothing but good things to say about that. And, because our show was always the red-headed stepchild of the franchise, it was very nice to be flattered that way."
"Series Acclimation Mil" followed the holographic SAM (Kerrice Brooks) investigating the long-ago disappearance of Benjamin Sisko (Avery Brooks) and his place as the Emissary. That included a hologram of an adult Jake Sisko and the revelation that SAM’s teacher, Professor Illa, was a new host for Dax.
The episode connected on so many levels with SAM seeing Sisko as a man and father, not just a legend. It was also terrific at reminding fans of how DS9 was all about humanity, a message that SFA continues to spread. By paying tribute to a classic Trek show, SFA made its own mark on the franchise.
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